So much money to protect nations… from the people who need help

2025-05-31

The world is turning into something I don’t recognise, and certainly not something I like. [...]

Block non-human crawlers with lighttpd

2025-04-20

Recently, I've put a copy of some ZIM files online with kiwix-server. I posted the url of this site on the Fediverse and, a few days later, the little server was a bit overloaded. The logs showed that the site was being crawled by search engines and AI training bots. There was no reason to let them. A robots.txt file calmed some, but not others. [...]

I haven't found the right tool to build a smolweb site, yet

2025-04-08

There are plenty of tools out there to build static websites such as Hugo, Zola, Pelican, Publii… they're powerful and well-made. But they all assume you're building your site locally. You install them on your computer, write and edit your content there, and then push the result to a server. That's fine if you always write from the same machine. But I don't. I write from different devices, depending on where I am and what I have on hand, so relying on a local setup doesn't fit my workflow. [...]

I no longer help friends and family with Windows issues

2025-03-29

For years, I was the go-to person whenever a friend or family member had a computer issue. Whether it was a slow system, mysterious pop-ups, unsupported hardware after system update, or software not behaving as expected, I would spend hours troubleshooting and fixing things. But not any more, at least not if the system in question runs Windows (or macOS). [...]

Offline version of a smolweb site

2025-03-04

So easy to make an offline version of a blog when it respects #smolweb recommendations. I've built a zim file of my web site with two command lines. wget and zimwriterfs (provided with zim-tools package) are easy to use. And it can be viewed by all zim readers such as the very good kiwix software [...]

Blog with Gotosocial??

2025-03-01

What if I told you that Gotosocial, a federated server software connected to the Fediverse, could also serve as a fantastic, minimalist blogging platform Imagine the possibilities: a clean, user-friendly interface, support for longer posts, and a commitment to the principles of Smolweb. Gotosocial offers all this and more, making it an exciting alternative for those seeking a straightforward and sustainable blogging experience. [...]

[>>>]